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michaeldr

In answer to my own question, I have just come across the following passage and wonder if it might be the incident referred to above

The Memoirs of Sir Ronald Storrs

page 305

"The Ophthalmic Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem is a long picturesque building on the east of the Bethlehem Road, straggling down the slopes of the Valley of Hinnom, and so known by the Arabs as Abu Salalim, the Father of the Staircase. For many years before the War it had rendered selfless, unpropaganded and deeply appreciated service to patients of all races and creeds ranging from the Sinai to Aleppo. I found it in a pitiful state, as the Turks had used it for an ammunition-dump and blown it up on the eve of their retreat. Nothing seemed to happen as quick as one wanted, for it took the best part of a week to clear it of exploded and unexploded cartridges and to summon the expert advice of MacCallan from Cairo; and some months before the hospital could be rebuilt by the Order and made ready to receive patients."

If so, then the 'bombing' or explosion, must have taken place not in 1918, but in early December 1917.

Perhaps the photographer put in the 1918 date, since that was when he took the pictures of Allenby visiting the site

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michaeldr

It seems that Allenby immediately put in hand the rebuilding of the hospital, for in his memoirs, Ronald Storrs notes that "... in February 1919 General Allenby reopened in formal state before representatives of every language and community, the reconstructed Ophthalmic Hospital of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem."

The photograph below shows how the building looked in the 1930s.

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michaeldr

HRH the Duke of Connaught was the order's Grand Master at the time, and after he had visited Jerusalem, Allenby was able to write to Wigram [Assistant Private Secretary and Equerry to the King] on 5th May 1918,

"I had the unique honour of receiving, from the Grand Master of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, the insignia of that Order in the Holy City itself; and His Royal Highness occupied, in the Kaiserin Augusta Victoria Hospice, on the Mount of Olives, the suite of rooms reserved for the Grand Master of the German Order of St. John of Jerusalem."

The photograph below shows Allenby and others, just after they have received their awards at an investiture held by the Duke of Connaught in the Old City of Jerusalem. [Though as far as I can tell, the order being worn by Allenby in this particular photograph, is not that of St. John of Jerusalem]

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michaeldr

Following the description of the location given by Ronald Storrs in the quote above (see post #2) and by checking the other buildings which appear in the backgrounds of the various photographs, then I shall stick my neck out and say that I think the hospital is the complex of light coloured buildings which appears in the bottom left hand corner of this aerial reconnaissance photograph taken by the Bavarian squadron [on 29th April 1918, at 13.30 hrs., from 4,000 metres]. The photograph appears in Benjamin Z. Kedar's book 'The Changing land Between the Jordan and the Sea' where he credits the photograph to the collection at the Bayerisches Haupstaatarchiv, Munich, Abt. IV: Kriegsarchiv.

In the bottom right hand corner of the photograph can be seen part of the walled Old City of Jerusalem, including the Jaffa Gate entrance and part of the barracks square where HRH the Duke of Connaught held the investiture.

Thank you for your interest

Michael

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wroclaw

Following the description of the location given by Ronald Storrs in the quote above (see post #2) and by checking the other buildings which appear in the backgrounds of the various photographs, then I shall stick my neck out and say that I think the hospital is the complex of light coloured buildings which appears in the bottom left hand corner of this aerial reconnaissance photograph taken by the Bavarian squadron [on 29th April 1918, at 13.30 hrs., from 4,000 metres]. The photograph appears in Benjamin Z. Kedar's book 'The Changing land Between the Jordan and the Sea' where he credits the photograph to the collection at the Bayerisches Haupstaatarchiv, Munich, Abt. IV: Kriegsarchiv.

In the bottom right hand corner of the photograph can be seen part of the walled Old City of Jerusalem, including the Jaffa Gate entrance and part of the barracks square where HRH the Duke of Connaught held the investiture.

Thank you for your interest

Michael

Hello Michael and thank you for yet another dig through forgotten history.

While the story in new to me, the buildings are not: I cant locate the exact sections which include the original remains of the WWI hospital, but most parts of the post war medical institutes are now hosting the Mount Zion Hotel and the Jerusalem House of Quality. Some other parts were demolished during the long decades in which this complex was deserted.

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michaeldr

I have just come across another ref to the damaged hospital; it's in a letter (5th April 1918) by Driver T4/143045 Jack Tait, Army Service Corps (Later service no. ET/50689).

"There is one thing about Johnny Turk, he never touched any of the buildings, except a British hospital on the outskirts of the city. He used it as an ammunition dump and blew it up when he left in a big hurry. "

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YMedad

The Hospital is located on Hebron Road, next door to the Mt. Zion Hotel, rigthwards diagonally across from the Menachem Begin Heritage Center and directly across the current Chutzot HaYotzer House (Artisans' Workshop House). It is now closed or used as a storeroom area for the Hotel but one room can be entered: that from its window the Hagana set up a means of transporting ammunition and even men: "A cable car capable of carrying a load of 250 kilos was designed for this purpose. The cable car was only used at night and lowered into the valley during the day to escape detection. The ride from the Israeli position at the St. John Eye Hospital to Mount Zion took two minutes"